What really happened to manti te'o, the college football star whose personal story of strength and sadness inspired so many people, until they learned that the dying girlfriend didn't really exist. Abc's josh elliott now with the latest in this puzzle and secrets. Reporter: Until wednesday afternoon, there were no public questions about th soul of star notre dame linebacker manti te'o, a devout mormon, hailing from a large, close-knit hawaiian family. But it's the heart that school officials, and te'o himself, now say was exploited, in a cruel and elaborate hoax. He is a guy who is so willing to believe in others and so ready to help. Reporter: But was te'o really duped into believing that he was having an online love affair that would turn tragic? He called lennay kekua the love of his life, saying her death had happened within hours of his grandmother's, one day before the big game. A narrative he was all too willing to share, ouchly and in apparent pain. When you have somebody that you talk to every single day, that you sleep with on the phone, because she's -- she's going through a lot of things, and all of a sudden, it's silence. That silence really eats at you. Reporter: We now know that lennay kekua never existed, and glaring questions still remain. Notre dame officials say the relationship was exclusively online. So, why then did te'o's father reportedly tell one paper his son had met kekua years ago after a game at stanford, and they they'd spent time together in hawaii? And why, even after te'o informed school officials of the hoax back in december, did no one set the record straight? While across social media and the twitterverse, the mystery spawned a new meme. Te'o-ing. People posting pictures embracing imaginary friends. But from te'o, seen here today, nothing but silence. A young man, about whom we once seemingly knew so much and now, about what matters most, seemingly nothing at all. And the al question is the simplest of all. Why? Why perpetrate so staggering a hoax with nothing to gain? And any manti te'o shares his side of this story, that, it appears, is all we'reoing to have. Qu and getting more bizarre with every hour that passes. Reporter: Indeed it is. Thank you, josh, great to see you here tonight.

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